NO3 at 35-40ppm. Is it alright?

[paranoid]

Hi all,

I just tested my NO3 to be 35-40ppm. Is it still okie or too high?

No algae observed in my tank so far.

CO2 very slow (7 hrs or so) to reach peak at 25ppm. 5bps with external reactor.

KH at 2.0 deg (after adding 2 tsp of baking soda. Before adding was like ZERO)
pH 6.8 to 6.3 (before and after CO2 injection)

Tank only have taiwan moss, Spiky moss, pelia and mini pelia. 7 cardinals.

Thanks!

[AquaObsession]

Yes, it's okay. If you cannot spot algae in your tank, it is a good indication. Watch out for fish health as well. If they start to get sick, something should be wrong with your plants, water parameters or Co2 Injection.

Cheers, Christophe

[sunnydaze]

What kind of test kit are you using? I was using SERA and the reading always go beyond 50ppm(dark Red) even after 50% water change. Dump the test kit and have since stop testing for it. Now 20% WC fortnightly. But anything below 50ppm should be OK.

[paranoid]

What kind of test kit are you using? I was using SERA and the reading always go beyond 50ppm(dark Red) even after 50% water change. Dump the test kit and have since stop testing for it. Now 20% WC fortnightly. But anything below 50ppm should be OK.

I am using the other brand, Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc..

I want to introduce CRS into my tank. But waiting for NO3 to drop to like 5 or lesser ppm. Still waiting and doing WC

[sunnydaze]

Oh...CRS thingy... than i'm not too familiar with the requirement. But i heard they require low temp and low nitrate.

[|squee|]

The AP test kit is also faulty. In fact I think all the test kits in the market are faulty... seriously.

People have taught me to watch the plants and their health and gauge from there. It's better because plants show for real whether or not conditions are good.

[StanChung]

Hahaha, I concur with that finding. I have found some are really useless. GH testers especially. 30+ and counting and still no end in sight... bought two famous but will remain unnamed brands and the result is the same despite using distilled water as test.

NO3 testers are also suspect as you can get false reading easily.